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60/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 60 out of 100. Long-term cohort studies

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Background Poor social health is likely associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia; however, studies show inconsistent results. Additionally, few studies separate social health components or control for mental health. Objective To investigate whether loneliness and social support are independently associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia, and whether depressive symptoms confound the association.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Freak-Poli, R., Wagemaker, N., Wang, R., Lysen, T. S., Ikram, M. A., Vernooij, M. W., et al. (2022). Loneliness, Not Social Support, Is Associated with Cognitive Decline and Dementia Across Two Longitudinal Population-Based Cohorts. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-210330

Vancouver

Freak-Poli R, Wagemaker N, Wang R, Lysen TS, Ikram MA, Vernooij MW, et al. Loneliness, Not Social Support, Is Associated with Cognitive Decline and Dementia Across Two Longitudinal Population-Based Cohorts. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2022. doi:10.3233/jad-210330. PMID: 34842183.

BibTeX

@article{freakpoli2022-34842183,
  author  = {Freak-Poli, R. and Wagemaker, N. and Wang, R. and Lysen, T. S. and Ikram, M. A. and Vernooij, M. W. and Dintica, C. S. and Vernooij-Dassen, M. and others},
  title   = {{Loneliness, Not Social Support, Is Associated with Cognitive Decline and Dementia Across Two Longitudinal Population-Based Cohorts}},
  journal = {Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD},
  year    = {2022},
  doi     = {10.3233/jad-210330},
  pmid    = {34842183},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.3233/jad-210330}
}

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Key findings

Additionally, few studies separate social health components or control for mental health.
Objective To investigate whether loneliness and social support are independently associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia, and whether depressive symptoms confound the association.
Methods We included 4,514 participants from the population-based Rotterdam Study (RS; aged 71±7SD years) followed up to 14 years (median 10.8, interquartile range 7.4-11.6), and 2,112 participants from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K; aged 72±10SD years) followed up to 10 years (mean 5.9±1.6SD).
At baseline, participants were free of major depression and scored on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) ≥26 for RS and ≥25 for SNAC-K.

Why it matters

This study used two longitudinal population-based cohorts to test whether loneliness and social support are independently associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk, and whether depressive symptoms confound the association. It is observational, so it cannot prove that reducing loneliness would prevent cognitive decline or dementia.

Study details

Participants4,514
Effect sizeHR 1.34; HR 2.16
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 60/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	Journal of Alzheimer s Disease: journal h-index 218 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	3 / 5	2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	4,514 participants
Effect reported	3 / 3	Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 76 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	12.7 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 6.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 52 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Henning W. Tiemeier: h-index 144 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	3 / 3	Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 4 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34842183)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	60 / 100	—

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